Amazon might get into event ticket sales, according to a new report from Reuters. The commerce giant has eyed the space, which is largely dominated by Live Nations Ticketmaster in the U.S., and found it a space for plenty of potential opportunity, according to the outlets sources.

Theres definitely wiggle room on the side of consumer experience; Ticketmaster receives plenty of grief from customers for its fees and practices. And Reuters claims theres appetite on the side of sports leagues, venue operators and sports teams, since they hope to grow ticket sales in general with some variety in distribution avenues.

Ticketmaster has managed so far to fend off potential upstart competitors, including ticketing platforms like Universe and Front Gate. Amazon, of course, is not a startup, and could carry considerably more weight. Plus, it already has relationships in place with key music industry players, and arguably one of the largest addressable customer bases with payment information on file ever amassed.

Reuters says that Amazon had talked to Ticketmaster about potential partnerships stateside, but that its sources claim those talks have stalled. Amazon has also talked to leagues about potential StubHub-style secondary market ticket resales, too, the report claims.

Where Amazon might have difficulty moving forward in this potential endeavor is around customer data. Venue and team owners want specific customer info to help them develop the right approach to marketing to their most lucrative customer demographics, but Reuters says Amazon has been reluctant to share said data in a prospective ticket sales partnership.

Ticket sales could end up being a potential additional driver for Prime memberships, too; you can imagine how Amazon would be able to secure reserved blocks for Prime members for high-demand events, open early pre-sales or offer other member-exclusive benefits. Its a model already used by other membership-style programs, including American Express cardholder programs.

Weve reached out to Amazon for a statement, but had not received a response as of publication time.

Updated Aug. 9, 2017, at 4:23 p.m. PDT with more information from Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg has been preaching video as our future for the last couple years. On Thursday, he’s launching the next big step in the company’s quest to dominate every last second of your waking life.

Facebook is set to debut original shows made by media partners exclusively for the social network, marking the company’s official entry into the high-end online video world that already includes rivals Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Apple.

It is also a product update, meaning the video tab in Facebook’s mobile app will feature a new section called “Watch” to highlight the initiative. “Watch” will also appear on desktop and Facebook’s TV apps.

The company confirmed the update Wednesday, saying it will start to roll out to a small group of users Thursday before expanding it more widely. “Watch is a platform for all creators and publishers to find an audience, build a community of passionate fans, and earn money for their work,” Facebook’s Director of Product Daniel Danker wrote.

Mashable has confirmed ATTN, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, Tastemade, and Group Nine (which overseas Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, and Seeker) are involved. (Mashable was also previously reported by Digiday to be a Facebook partner in this program.)

Mashable will have two shows on the platform later this year: a weekly show called What’s Your Mutt, and another called D.I.Y. Costume Squad. Both shows will be produced at the company’s studio in Culver City, Calif.

What’s Your Mutt is a talkshow-like series hosted by Kerri Doherty (who previously hostedMashable’s live Twitter show at SXSW) and featuring veterinarian Karen Halligan. Together, the two will uncover the exact breed of a special guest’s dog using DNA testing.

D.I.Y. Costume Squad is a show dedicated to helping viewers make complex costumes using items they may have at home or can find in a thrift store. The show, which will air this fall, will be hosted by Mashable’sDustin McLean and Claire Max, with guest appearances from notable cosplayers.

Image: mashable

Facebook has been tip-toeing into original video content. The company paid publishers, including Mashable, to create live videos shortly after Facebook’s live product was released. Now, Facebook is making a much bigger push into TV-like shows including reality content as well as scripted programs.

Facebook’s new ‘Watch’ platform.

Image: facebook

Why? One big reason is money. Facebook makes the majority of its revenue from digital advertising, which has been mostly of the direct response type. With this initiative, the company is now better able to cut into the $70 billion TV advertising market that tech companies are salivating for.

The company is going after the $70 billion TV advertising market that tech companies are salivating for.

The initiative has been a long time coming for Facebook and its partners. Facebook hired CollegeHumor cofounder Ricky Van Veen as its head of global creative strategy in June 2016. Mina Lefevre, formerly head of scripted for MTV, joined as head of development in February this year.

It’s been up in the air over the last several months on when these shows will debut. A source close to the entertainment industry saidFacebook’s initiative was expected to launch at Cannes, an industry advertising festival held in June. A different participating publisher told Mashable that they had not learned of the confirmed launch time until this week.

All the publishers that spoke with Mashable requested anonymity due to their business relationships with Facebook. There will also be shows that appear under a “branded content” tag.

Some of Facebook’s original series have been revealed prior to their debut, such as a show featuring Lonzo Ball, a former UCLA basketball player who was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, Deadline reported. But publishers involved in the launch had been instructed by Facebook to stay silent until Thursday.

As to what it will look like, one publisher likened the experience to Snapchat Discover, the app’s network of media partners that create exclusive editions, some daily (Mashable is a Snapchat Discover partner). That comparison is due to the 24-hour, ephemeral nature of the content and the shorter length of each episode. Each episode will last between 3 to 10 minutes, on average.

“My understanding is [Facebook will] highlight a certain number of shows each day. Those shows will be there for 24 hours and then not be there anymore and new shows will replace them,” said one publisher, who asked not to be identified since Facebook has not allowed any participants to talk on the record until the launch.

Some publishers will have weekly shows, meaning they will appear for 24 hours every Monday, for example. Others will have shows more akin to a one-off special that will air over the course of a couple days.

Facebook has licensed deals with these participating publishers, meaning it pays them a minimum guarantee. Some publishers have been paid $5,000 per episode, others $35,000 per episode, depending on the length of the show, according to a participant. Reuters previously reported these numbers.

The shows also will feature mid-roll ads, where Facebook and publishers will split the revenue. There will also be shows tagged as “branded content.”

A participating publisher told Mashable they were thankful to be involved with the launch due to the exclusivity of the partnership.

“It was extremely competitive getting a meeting with the team,” the publisher said. “Facebook, like it or not, is the biggest opportunity in video.”

Studio will pull all titles from rivals and try to corner market in family-friendly fare from 2019

Disney is to pull its movies from Netflix and take on the streaming company with the launch of its own service from 2019, showing family-friendly fare such as the Toy Story films, Frozen and its forthcoming sequel, and The Lion King. The move is being seen as a potential major challenge to Netflix, whose shares fell 4% in after-hours trading on the back of the news, and to Amazon.

Disney said it had not yet made a decision on whether to include Marvel, home to the Avengers franchise and characters such as Iron Man and Captain America, and Lucasfilm, the company behind Indiana Jones and Star Wars, in the new service. The company has been identified as a potential buyer of Netflix, with which it has an exclusive film distribution deal in the US, with a market value of about $75bn.

Disney is launching its service in the US, but chief executive Bob Iger told analysts to think of it as a global service. The company is also launching a streaming service for ESPN, the sports network with rights to top flight-competitions including Major League Baseball and the NFL.

The launch of our direct-to-consumer services marks an entirely new strategy for the company, said Iger, one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands.

The service will initially be family-focused, drawing on Pixar and Disney fare and including productions from the Disney Channel and Disney Junior.

Disney said it would become the exclusive home in the US for subscription video-on-demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar beginning with the 2019 theatrical slate. The media landscape is increasingly defined by direct relationships between content creators and consumers, said Iger.

Disney gained the capability to launch the new streaming service thanks to its purchase of a majority stake in BAMTech, a subsidiary of MLBAM, the internet arm of Major League Baseball. Disney already owned a stake, but is paying $1.58bn for an additional 42%.

Earlier this week, Netflix moved to reduce its reliance on licensing intellectual property from rivals by acquiring comic book company Millarworld. It hopes that the company whose properties Kick-Ass and Kingsman have already been turned into films that have been shown on the network will do for it what the acquisition of Marvel has done for Disney.

By owning its own franchises, Netflix is hoping to reduce its rapidly growing content budget. It has already committed to spending $16bn on the production and licensing of films and TV shows over the next five years.

When it comes to stirring up criticism,Brian Head Welchis no stranger to controversy. The lead guitarist for the band Korntook to social media on Thursday to process the loss of fellow musician Chester Bennington.

YouTube

The lead singer for Linkin Park reportedly committed suicide pm Thursday morning in his Los Angeles home. He was 41 years old, and left behind his wife and six children.

Welch posted a photo to Instagram Thursday with a message about Benningtons death saying that he knows the difficulties the music industry:

Music is one of the most relentlessly difficult industries to work in. It’s taken a toll on my body; mentally, physically, spiritually. From the outside, I completely understand why people roll their eyes when we highlight the difficulties. You see what we want you to see. The show. The facade. The pristine package. But creating that package asks us for more vulnerability than I think we’re prepared for when we start out. We find places in our souls that most have the luxury of not exploring. It gets dark.

But, with all of that understanding, Welch also says suicide is not the answer. Prefacing that his motives werent to cheapen a tragedy, the guitarist shared some honest thoughts about Benningtons temporary decisionacknowledging that it easily could have been him back in the day (before he was saved).

Honestly, Chesters an old friend who weve hung with many times, and I have friends who are extremely close to him, but this is truly pissing me off! How can these guys send this message to their kids and fans?! Im sick of this suicide [junk]. Ive battled depression/mental illness, and Im trying to be sympethetic, but its hard when youre pissed! Enough is enough! Giving up on your kids, fans, and life is the cowardly way out!!!

On Twitter, he even called Bennington a coward.

In a statement later on, Welch said that he didnt mean to sound insensitive, but he was dealing with a range of emotions.

Im sorry, I know meds and/or alcohol may have been involved, Im just processing like all of us and I know we are all having some of the same thoughts/feelings.

Before ending his emotional posts, Welch closed with a prayer:

Lord, take Chester in your arms and please re-unite him with his family and all of us one day. Be with his wife and kids with your grace during this difficult time.

He also added a note of hope amidst the darkness:

“Lets celebrate people. Lets celebrate good things. Lets celebrate art and each other. Theres a lot of darkness and hurt out there. You can add to it, you can make it colder, darker, or you can shine a light on it.

Joey and Rory Feek spent their lives creating music that reflected their down-home, bluegrass roots and faith in Jesus Christ.

Instagram

Their love for each other left fans inspired, and many followed their journey after Joey gave birth to their daughter Indiana, and was later diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer.

Her battle was fierce, and Rory kept fans informed through the final months, weeks and days of his precious wifes life on a blog he called, This Life I Live.

Joey passed away on March 4, 2016, and Rory is determined to keep her spirit alive forever in him.

Though Rory has taken things pretty easy this past yearspending time with Indiana, and mourning the loss of the greatest woman hes ever knownhes continued to keep fans in the loop on his blog with day-to-day thoughts, struggles, triumphs, memories of Joey, and life with Indiana.

Instagram

Its been 16 months since his wife passed away, and Rory recently made an announcement that hes excited to get back in the saddle and start making music again.

In celebration of what would be Joeys birthday and the couples 15th wedding anniversary, Rory will perform in Pottsville, Tennessee on the 8th and 9th of September. Hes working alongside Music Health Alliance to raise money for the medical bills of families with sick loved ones.

The organization helped Rory with support while Joey was battling cancer.

“I could not navigatethe barrage of medical bills that were coming in. What is covered? What is not covered? What isn’t covered but should be?”

Rorys not certain of whether or not this will lead to him diving back into full-time music again quite yet. For now, hes taking it in stridesdoing what he loves to do and remembering his wife in support of a great cause.

“For me, it will be good because I will learn why I am supposed to be there and what the future holds.”

Fans can take hope in knowing theyre along for the ride with him. What could be better than that?

At an appearance in England on Thursday, actor Johnny Depp joked about assassinating President Trump. He apologized on Friday for the shocking remarks.

Depp was at a drive-in movie theater in Glastonbury, where he introduced his 2004 film “The Libertine,” when he began talking about the president, according to The Guardian.

I think he needs help and there are a lot of wonderful dark, dark places he could go, Depp said.

Depp, who noted his comments would be in the press, then began discussing prior assassinations of presidents.

When was the last time an actor assassinated a president? he asked, referencing John Wilkes Booth assassinating President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

I want to clarify, I am not an actor. I lie for a living, Depp said. However, it has been a while and maybe it is time.

A White House official told Fox News, “President Trump has condemned violence in all forms and its sad that others like Johnny Depp have not followed his lead. I hope that some of Mr. Depps colleagues will speak out against this type of rhetoric as strongly as they would if his comments were directed to a democrat elected official.”

A United States Secret Service Official also told Fox News, “The Secret Service is aware of the Mr. Depps comments. For operational security reasons, we do not discuss specifically or in general terms the means and methods of how we conduct our protective responsibilities.”

I apologize for the bad joke I attempted last night in poor taste about President Trump, he said. It did not come out as intended, and I intended no malice. I was only trying to amuse, not to harm anyone.

In recent weeks, a production of Julius Caesar in New York Citys Shakespeare in the Park sparked controversy when the play showed the Roman dictator, seemingly depicted as Trump, being brutally stabbed to death on stage.

Sponsors later pulled out of the event due to the graphic nature of the show.

Comedian Kathy Griffin also sparked controversy after a photo of her holding a bloodied Donald Trump mask was released to the public.

Delta Air Lines wants to be your wingman a slightly dishonest wingman, but a wingman nonetheless.

The Atlanta-based airline has recently teamed up with Tinder to transform the exterior of Brooklyn building into a dating wall covered in worldly murals depicting nine different Delta destinations. According to a press release, the idea is for Brooklynites to snap photos near the murals, upload them to their dating profiles, and trick unsuspecting Tinder dates into thinking theyre more well-traveled than they actually are.

Until you take the trip, well help you fake the trip with these backdrops, the mural reads in large black letters.

In fairness, the murals themselves arent lifelike enough to completely fool Tinder users each has been painted directly onto a brick building, and it shows but Delta is hoping its enough to convince a potential date that travel is a huge hobby.

According to singles research, 1 in 3 singles ranked travel as a top priority in 2017, and singles who show a love for travel are more likely to be swiped right, claims Delta in a statement obtained by Fox News. So this summer, Delta and Tinder are offering New York singles an opportunity to snap profile pictures that will make you look like a jet-setter via a series of painted walls on display on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Included among the destinations on Deltas wall are: the United Kingdom, which is represented by a red telephone box and Big Ben; Italy, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa; France, with the Eiffel Tower; Russia, showing Red Square; The Netherlands, complete with roses and a windmill; Switzerland, represented by a cable car at the base of the Alps; Mexico, with a temple at Chichen Itza; Hawaii, with a double rainbow overhead; and California, as seen near Randys Donuts.

Delta says that each mural, too, was designed by New York Times illustrator Andrew Rae.

The airline has also placed another large mural the second in its Painted Wall Series a few blocks away at the site of Brooklyns weekly Smorgasburg food festival. That one, however, was designed by the Hide York Kids art studio, and simply encourages patrons to go where your food is from.